"I am—you say I am—decorated?"
"Yes, but it is a secret, a great secret."
She had put the glorious garment into a cupboard, and came to her husband pale and trembling.
"Yes," she continued, "it is a new overcoat that I have had made for you. But I swore that I would not tell you anything about it, as it will not be officially announced for a month or six weeks, and you were not to have known till your return from your business journey. M. Rosselin managed it for you."
"Rosselin!" he contrived to utter in his joy; "he has obtained the decoration for me? He—Oh!"
And he was obliged to drink a glass of water.
A little piece of white paper had fallen to the floor out of the pocket of the overcoat. Sacrement picked it up; it was a visiting-card, and he read out:
"Rosselin—Deputy."
"You see how it is," said his wife.
He wept with joy, and, a week later, it was announced in the "Journal Officiel" that M. Sacrement had been awarded the Legion of Honour on account of his exceptional services.